PHI 394-01 - Advanced Studies in Theories of Value: Habermas

4 credits (Spring) This class will be devoted to the work of Juergen Habermas, a world renowned political theorist who works from within the tradition of German Critical Theory. We will begin with his early work on the student movements in the 1960’s where he develops his critique of the legacy of the Enlightenment, move to his middle period where he more fully works out the framework of discourse ethics, and then move to his defense of the universality of reason and its link to law and the norms of justice. We end the course with selections from his most recent work on multiculturalism and the place of religion in national and international politics.